AACo was spending $3 million annually insuring its top brass against claims about their own actions, the most expensive item on an insurance shopping list for the cattle giant, according to leaked documents.
The list further indicates AACo had still not purchased any insurance for cattle for disasters such as floods, a year after almost 43,000 head died in flooding in 2019, costing more than $42 million. But insurance and agriculture industry sources said a lack of such protection was not unusual given the often prohibitive cost of such cover, which can potentially be obtained from some insurance syndicates overseas.
The insurance proposal from April 2020 indicates AACo was paying almost $4.7 million in annual premiums for cover ranging from product liability protection to insuring buildings, aircraft, or business practices liability. But factors including the type of industry or governance structures could affect requirements, they added. Another source said legal bills for claims could ramp up rapidly.